ANKARA, Oct 13 (AFP) - The leaders of France, Germany and Turkey will hold talks in Berlin later this month on Ankara's bid to join the European Union, a senior Turkish diplomat said Wednesday.
The October 26 meeting is part of a Europe-wide campaign by Turkey to drum up support ahead of a crunch December 17 decision by EU leaders on whether to start accession talks with Ankara.
In Berlin, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder of Germany and President Jacques Chirac of France
Schroeder and Chirac are among Turkey's biggest supporters in the 25-nation bloc.
But while there is little controversy about the issue in Germany, which is home to Europe's largest Turkish immigrant community, Chirac's administration is split and public opinion is apparently largely hostile.
Earlier this month, Chirac said that he favored amending French legislation to allow referenda on future accessions to the EU, including Turkey's.
An opinion poll published Tuesday in the French daily Liberation showed 75 percent of people opposed to Turkish entry, auguring badly for a referendum, and the French parliament will debate the issue Thursday.
"Our message to French leaders will be that we expect them to be fair and just and to act in line with decisions taken earlier by the European Union," the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"The French people should avoid being too emotional."
Last week, the European Commission -- the EU's executive arm -- recommended that EU leaders set a date for starting membership negotiations when they meet on December 17, saying the country had fulfilled basic EU democracy norms.
Brussels had said in 2002 that negotiations would start "without delay" as sooon as Turkey had fulfilled the required political criteria.
"We expect that this period will not exceed several months," Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Namik Tan said Wednesday, echoing earlier statements by Turkish leaders.
Ahead of the three-way Berlin summit, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul will meet his German and French counterparts, the diplomat added.
Gul will go to Berlin to meet Germany's Joschka Fischer on October 18 and 19, before meeting his French counterpart Michel Barnier on the sidelines of a gathering of Mediterranean countries in Paris on October 24 and 25, he said.
His campaign to garner support for Turkey will also take him to the Czech Republic on October 26 and to Slovakia and Portugal in November, Tan said.